Copyright Us Weekly
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City‘s Heather Gay is diving deeper into her Mormon roots with a new limited series. Bravo announced the three-part series, Surviving Mormonism With Heather Gay, on Tuesday, October 21, giving fans a first look at Gay’s journey to uncovering the darker side of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The things I learned while we were filming this shocked me to my core,” she says in the teaser. “The real secret lives are much darker, deeper and more tragic.” Gay is later seen sitting down with former members of the LDS church, including a man who tells her, “I spent my life being someone I wasn’t.” Another woman reveals, “My earliest memories are of abuse.” Elsewhere in the clip, Gay breaks down in tears over what she’s learned. “I just feel overwhelmed and horrified,” she confesses. The three-part series, which premieres November 11 on Bravo, “fractures the church’s seemingly perfect veneer to expose the secrets that have been kept behind closed doors,” according to a press release. “In each hourlong episode, Heather has impactful conversations with abuse survivors, ex-Mormons and former LDS church leaders,” the release continues. “As Heather reflects on her own departure from the church, Surviving Mormonism delves into outdated and controversial practices and empowers victims to share their experiences to bring awareness and enact change.” Gay has been outspoken about her personal experience with Mormonism since she was first introduced to Us on RHOSLC in 2020. She detailed her departure from the church in two books, Bad Mormon and Good Time Girl. In Us Weekly‘s Reality Stars of the Year issue, which featured the RHOSLC cast on the cover, Gay said her “life purpose” is to “represent hope for people after Mormonism.” “Especially for women after Mormonism, [I want] to represent a different way and to shine light on hurtful practices that we’ve never been able to talk about,” she told Us. “And so to be able to bring light to that and become kind of a central figure for that ex-Mormon community and talk about things that weren’t talked about before, that gives me great satisfaction.” Gay added that shows like RHOSLC and Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives are pulling back the curtain on the facade of the religious community in Salt Lake City — and people can’t look away. “I think that I watched reality television to find the cracks and see the cracks, because it’s not scripted. So, you know, the light’s going to get through, right?” she explained. “And I think that, because we’re so susceptible to that in Salt Lake City, and we’re all imbued in this culture, that reputation is key, and we’re highly sensitive to any dings in our veneer of perfection … that adds to the drama. That adds to the stakes. When the stakes are high, the drama is equal to it.” Several of Gay’s costars chimed in with their support on Tuesday after her new project was announced, including Angie Katsanevas. “Proud to be your friend. You are multifaceted💎Keep doing amazing things. Congratulations❤️,” she wrote in an Instagram comment when the teaser dropped. Former Housewife Angie Harrington added, “Love you @heathergay ❤️ this isn’t easy.” Surviving Mormonism With Heather Gay premieres on Bravo November 11 at 9:15 p.m. ET after The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. All three episodes will be available to stream on Peacock November 12.
